HELP! Dealership wants their car back or I fork out more money. WTF Honda.

[Driveitlikeuboughtit]

UPDATE:

1) Manager texted me back, backing off. Everything handled on the rebate issue, followed by an apology regarding trying to get the car back.

I'm still going to keep a copy of everything, just in case, and will post a final update on 10/21 once we're outside of the 45 day window. But good lord what an annoying hell of a ride.

Hey, said it all along. Tell them to unwind the deal or fuck off. Sounds like they fucked off.

No reason to stress bud, enjoy the Civic. In the future, realize dealers will put the screws to you but in the end, you have options too. In your case, you did the right thing (although I wouldn't have gone in, I would have told them to unwind or screw over the phone).

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[Driveitlikeuboughtit]

can the buyer, OP, still return the car even when the manager says not to though? it would teach them a lesson not to mess with the buyers in the future -.-

No. He could only return at the dealers discretion, which they would not do at this point. This dealership will only do the right thing after all other options are exhausted. I wouldn't count on them to take back the car.

 

[SCOPESYS]

CONGRATULATIONS on getting this sorted.​

Now, the $64,000 question is:
After your 1st Free Oil Change, will you ever go back to that Dealership again.
===>

My advise would be to after making sure you have the agree upon remedy fully documented, would be to put all this behind you, and start ENJOYING your new car.

Then, some time later, go check out a few other Honda dealers, to Evaluate them, and get some idea as to which Dealer you will take your future business to, including Warranty issues.

Being a suspicious person myself, I would not be surprised if your current Dealer has taken the attitude --

"OK, we will let him win this minor $500 battle, because we will MAKE SURE that we more than recover that when he comes back for service"

 

[Goseki]

No. He could only return at the dealers discretion, which they would not do at this point. This dealership will only do the right thing after all other options are exhausted. I wouldn't count on them to take back the car.

Truth, the contract you sign is very one sided. Only seller can change their mind, no public trials if someone decides to pursue court for disagreements, etc.



In summary, everything ended up happening very rapidly so I can't tell if one was related to another. Basically this is how it went down this afternoon:

1) This afternoon, I called the dealer telling them to basically either eat the $500 or take my car back and undo the deal. They said they would look into it and pursue lawful action if necessary (since I mentioned I had already sent the sales receipt/contract to my lawyer to review)

2) I called Honda corporate, got the issue escalated to a regional liason.

3) Manager on today calls me back and tells me to bring the car in today if I wasn't going to pay the $500 since the "exemption" hadn't gone through.

4) I call the manager back saying I'm about to start work for the evening ( I'm on night shift, and that I would bring the car in first thing in the morning, he pretended to forget who I was, (just called like 10 mins earlier)

5) I submit my story to the local news website portal.

6) I called Honda corporate back and told them dealer wants to undo the deal to see if they could escalate it, they said it hasn't been reviewed yet and it would prob take 24 hours, but they would add a new note.

7) (15 mins later)Honda liason calls me, I tell her the story, she says it sounds like a financing issue, nothing she could do, but she would call the dealership general manager and have him call me to see if we can work something out.

8) (5 mins later) I get a text telling me everything has been taken care of, I no longer owe anything except the financed amount.

9) I call the manager back, he apologizes for the confusion, very respectful and nice sounding now. States that everything is taken care of, thank you for the business, the usual.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

All in all, I wanted to say thanks to the community, you guys really helped get me through this, both through helpful advices as well as funny comments. This whole thing has definitely left me a wiser man. I do wonder though if it wasn't for the internet or my status if I would've gotten screwed over completely. I will still keep everything documented. Final update will be when my 45 days runs out.


Final question, would it be worth driving all the way down there at this point to have it in writing? Or will the text mssg with the person's name and title be enough. Honestly I don't want to ever go back to that dealership, and I think the txt message and the number should be enough, but I suppose just to be extra safe...

 

[TrustMeImAnEngineer]

Personally I'd be hesitant to ever go back to that dealership. This whole thing reeked of bullshit dealership shenanigans from the beginning, and places that operate like that should be avoided.

Since you've already been talking to a lawyer, you should just ask him/her if the text message is sufficient before dragging yourself back there for more documentation. That being said I'm about 90% sure this will be the end of it. They blinked, and there's no reason to think they'll bring it up again.

Personally I'd wait until the 45 days is up and you've taken care of any additional business there (e.g. a service visit or whatever) and then leave an honest review for the dealership on a bunch of websites. It'll both warn others and be a bit cathartic.

Whatever else you do, it's best to just put it behind you and enjoy the car (and dream of a day when we can just order cars on Amazon).

 

[SCOPESYS]

Whatever else you do, it's best to just put it behind you and enjoy the car (and dream of a day when we can just order cars on Amazon).

LOL, you order it over the Internet, and it drives itself to you and parks in your driveway.

Then for service, it checks with you, telling you it needs service, and if you say "OK", it drives itself to the dealer, and reports for service.

Then it streams Live video to you, as it is being serviced, so you can see what they are doing !!!! (or is that going too far ? I think not)

Actually, thats something you can do today ----



Warning: Language is somewhat coarse !! (sigh)

 

[shoegazer]

I'm glad this is finally over for ya'.

I'm shaking my head that this ever even happened. The terms are pretty clear at the very bottom of the page.

My two cents from reading all this is that an over-zealous salesperson just winked at or disregarded the obvious just to get the papers signed and get you in the car. It was the difference between making a sale versus not making one. And once you signed the contract; the advantage was theirs.

I've had my own experiences with shady practices and sketchy sales weasels. And it sucks that Honda and the dealerships allow this crap to happen. I expect better from them.

But, as you said, it's a life lesson that, it seems, that you learned fairly cheap. That's a win. And I'll be that much more careful when I buy this Fall. So thanks.

Here's the link: http://www.hondafinancialservices.com/finance/college-grad-program

 

[SCOPESYS]

Warning: Language is somewhat coarse !! (sigh)[/QUOTE]

Don't mean to Hijack this thread, (although it is basically about how dealers treat their customers - so not too far off topic) but if you have watched this video, consider this..

Do you really want your Dealer to Wash/Scratch your car in their car wash, or even by hand.

I don't know about you, but I was serious upset by the end of that video, thinking this could so easily happen to my car.

 

[CivicXI]

LOL, you order it over the Internet, and it drives itself to you and parks in your driveway.

Then for service, it checks with you, telling you it needs service, and if you say "OK", it drives itself to the dealer, and reports for service.

Then it streams Live video to you, as it is being serviced, so you can see what they are doing !!!! (or is that going too far ? I think not)

Actually, thats something you can do today ----



Warning: Language is somewhat coarse !! (sigh)

According to the comments, that video itself was a fraud. The service was done and done correctly.

 

[civicls]

According to the comments, that video itself was a fraud. The service was done and done correctly.

Err, the comments are always the fraud lol

 

[SCOPESYS]

Err, the comments are always the fraud lol

Maybe .. who can tell these day ... but the SCRATCHY Car wash looked real enough !!!

BTW: The last oil change I had, I had my local small garage owner do it. (Feeling lazy )
I stood by him as he did it, chatting about cars .. saw the old oil come out, saw the new filter being fitted, and the new oil being put in from a sealed Brand Name oil company. He also checked the Transmission fluid, and topped it back up to the "Hot" Line, as well as checking the underside of the car, brakes, the Rack & Pinion for play, and the wheel bearings. Also a complete visual inspection of the underside of the car, and the engine compartment
Total cost, incl Tax $35.38

I do not even want to estimate what my local Dealer would have charged !!

 

[GuyT]

Glad to hear that OP! Enjoy the civic, it’s a beast!

 

[zroger73]

7) (15 mins later)Honda liason calls me, I tell her the story, she says it sounds like a financing issue, nothing she could do, but she would call the dealership general manager and have him call me to see if we can work something out.

8) (5 mins later) I get a text telling me everything has been taken care of, I no longer owe anything except the financed amount.

Whatever occurred between step 7 and 8 is the meat on the bone. When the dealer realized you actually called Honda, they knew they were never going to get that extra $500 they were trying to scam you out of, so they gave up. Most people who threaten legal action in the heat of the moment never do. I can't count the number of times I've heard the phrase, "You'll be hearing from my attorney!" and nothing further happens after the consumer hangs up the phone or squeals their tires out of the parking lot. Dealers know this, too.

At this point, consider your case closed. Write reviews of the dealership explaining your experience, then try to forget about them and enjoy your new Civic!

 

[dallasjhawk]

Also, blast the dealer please. The forum should know who this shady as hell dealer is.....

 

[Hijinx]

I had a similar situation happen back in 2014 when I bought my Fiesta ST:

We sign and the car is delivered. I’ve been driving t for about two weeks when the salesman calls and says “hey, we need more money. The contract isn’t right.” Since this was so long ago, I don’t remember the details, but I distinctly remember that I was determined not to pay the full amount he was asking. Anyway, I went back to the dealership at my leisure looking to wheel and deal...maybe go halfsies since it was their mistake, or get some accessories, extended-warranty (not that I cared about the warranty).

We sit down, I make my pitch and the salesman says something along the lines of “No. We need the money.” I don’t remember the back and forth, but eventually I was escorted off the lot because I told him to fuck off and that I’d be calling corporate.

I did just that. I reported them to corporate and I never heard back from the dealership. Today, I own that car, title in hand.

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